Blog Entry 5 - Fort Myers Beach

I have lived in Fort Myers ever since I was born, and had visited Fort Myers Beach more times than I can remember. Until recently, I thought I had known everything there was to know about the little island. There's a beach (with a pier), a bunch of restaurants, and a lot of stores. There are also parking spots, but never seemingly enough of them to keep up with the huge amount of people that are always there. But when I was walking on the boardwalk among the mangrove trees, I came to a realization: I never knew this particular area even existed. I was literally walking in an area that the Calusa indians, and perhaps even Ponce de Leon had walked through hundreds of years ago. I was also surprised at the amount of fairly recent history that area had, particularly during the second world war. I had already known about the air bases that were here, since my grandfather actually got his flight training at the bomber base at Page Field during the war (he flew the B-25). What really took me by surprise were the stories about the Nazis. When you think of the war against them, you think of it taking place in Europe and North Africa, but not this close to home. But sure enough, U-boats would supposedly scout right off the shore of Fort Myers beach! It's pretty scary to think about. It's even more scary to wonder if Germany ever had plans of taking the war to the US, and perhaps using south Florida (which was largely undeveloped, at the time) as a place to start an invasion. The story about the Nazi uniform being found in the mangroves with a ticket stub (presumably from a local play) found in the pocket was incredible, almost too incredible to be true I think. After I got back home, I tried to do some research regarding the story, but all I could find were links to blogs from people that had mentioned the story from the past colloquium classes! I'm starting to wonder if the story might just be an urban legend.

Blog Entry 4 - Inconvenient Truth

I had seen this film before, but it had been a while since I had last watched it. I like to think that, since becoming a bio major, I was able to take more out of the film this time. I had taken General Ecology with Professor Cross a few semesters ago, and felt that a lot of what I had learned in that class helped me understand the movie better. When so much carbon (previously sequestered in the Earth's crust, or in the trees in the forests, among other places) is released, it can be a disaster, as the planet cannot adjust quick enough to the changes. The carbon dioxide being released greatly exceeds the amount that can naturally be reabsorbed, so excess gas can build up in the atmosphere. People like to criticize Al Gore for talking about Global Warming and excessive CO2 emissions, while at the same time driving an SUV and flying around in private jets. Some people even like to write off the entire film as nonsense because of him doing these things. It raises the question of, "Well, if he's not going to change his lifestyle, why should I?" While his choice of automobile probably wasn't a particularly good one considering how much he'd like the general population to change its driving habits, I personally saw nothing wrong with him using the jet as a form of travel. While there are more eco-friendly ways to move about on the road, the same is not yet true when it comes to aircraft. Fossil fuels are the only means by which they can be powered. The only way for him to realistically be able to travel to as many places as he does to deliver those many speeches is by using an aircraft. And because of how famous he is, taking a standard airline would be not be a realistic option. In my opinion, regardless as to what people think of Al Gore as a person ("hypocrite", "liberal", etc), the least they could do is at least listen to what he has to say. If they don't believe what he says, they could easily look up & see the data he presented and make their own conclusions. However, in doing so, they may well find that there really is something to what he's saying after all.

Blog Entry 3 - Hot, Flat, and Crowed

The assigned chapters proved to be quite an interesting read. And I believe the author's right when he says that it's going to be impossible to sit back and assume the path we're on won't lead us to disaster. It is important to realize the situation now, and do something to change our ways while there is still time. However, this is not the first time I have heard about warnings like this, and that NOW is the time we should start doing something about it. In fact, I had been hearing about such things for over a decade now. And yet, all this time later, nothing much has changed. In my opinion, no matter how hard activists will try to warn the government and the everyday people, nothing much will probably ever change and we are likely going to be doomed anyway. The problem has to do with the general population, and the relatively small knowledge they have about science and the environment. Most people look outside, see blue skies, green grass, and think there is no problem. They are convinced that the planet is so large, so massive, that nothing we could possibly do could ever affect it. They think scientists and the politicians have some kind of hidden agenda and are trying to sell them a form of "snake oil" in the form of solar panels and electric cars (i.e. things they don't think they need). Others (perhaps a bit more educated) realize that there is a warming trend going on, but believe that it's a natural phenomenon, referring to instances in history where there had been other warming/cooling periods. While the later group of people might not be wrong (there have been temperature fluctuations throughout history), what everyone needs to realize is that all the carbon dioxide and other gases that comes from cars and factories actually goes somewhere and can negatively impact the planet. Just because its invisible doesn't mean it doesn't do anything. I hope I am wrong about this, but I just cannot realistically see a way for most people to change their minds about this issue before it's too late.

Blog Entry 2 - Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

It had been a long time since I had last been to Corkscrew Sanctuary, ever since Elementary school - or so I originally though. I must have been thinking about Ding Darling, or a similar place, since when the bus arrived at the sanctuary I realized that I had really been there much more recently than I remembered. The last time I had actually been there was only about 4 years ago, during my first semester at FGCU, when I took a class called Environmental Biology of SW Florida. While I was initially disappointed that I wasn't going to be visiting a place I hadn't been to since I was very young, I soon remembered just how interesting of a place Corkscrew really is. The preserve is a combination of different types of ecosystems. Pine flatwoods and cypress domes were among the types we walked though. Each ecosystem is different from the other in terms of what plants and animals can live there. As I walked around on the boardwalk, I couldn't help but notice that the sanctuary did not look the same as it had the last time I had visited. The reason for this was that it was now the dry season - a lot of the green plants and bushes I had seen four years ago (during the rainy season) were now dry and golden from the lack of moisture. There was also almost no standing water as well. The alligators at the sanctuary had reportedly been forced to result to cannibalism due to the lack of their normal prey items (turtles, fish, etc). When it comes to the plants, while seemingly dead, many of them will bounce back to full health once the rain starts coming back. This is a type of adaptation that has helped native plants survive in Florida's harsh climate.

Blog Entry 1 - First Impressions

Before entering this course, I didn't really know what to expect. I had always heard people talking about the class, but I had no idea what it was actually about. I asked a couple of my friends who had taken it before, and they said it's pretty much like the Foundations of Civic Engagement, which was a course I had already taken. After the first few days of Colloquium, I noticed that while it is somewhat similar to Civic Engagement, it is also distinctly different. The basic idea behind both classes is about the same; put people from various backgrounds and majors together, and have them consider matters they might not otherwise sit back and think about. In Civic Engagement the focus was more about the status of human affairs across the world, and wanting to help those that are less fortunate. It was considered selfish for one to go about life caring about nothing but himself and his immediate family members and thinking nothing of those who have had struggles. In comparison, based on what I have learned in Colloquium so far, the focus seems to be more about wanting people to consider the state of the environment as they live their lives. While it was once considered possible to live the "American Dream" while not needing to worry about the rainforests or the atmosphere, that is no longer the case today. As the human population around the world continues to increase, it becomes necessary to realize that resources are limited and must be distributed in smarter ways to prevent shortages. It is also important to keep in mind that humans aren't the only living things on the planet, and that we must consider other forms of life as well, some of which are now threatened (and heading towards extinction) unless things change. With the planet and the societies that live on it changing in ways that could not even have been imagined just half a century ago, I can understand why the University would want us to take both of these courses.